Welcome to Friday Props! A delicious part of this nutritious breakfast! Fall, fall, fall. Leaves, chilly nights, cider....yeah, yeah, yeah. There's plenty of people talking about that these days. "D'ja git yer cider up ta Ellie's yet?" Not yet, sir, but I assure you I shall. The comforting regularity of the seasons is grounding for everyone here, but one reason we consider things creative here is when the expectation, the normalcy is changed; bent or gently twisted at such an angle where it gives us pause to think deeper. We all walk a fine line between our reality and our imagination. Personally I prefer to dance and hop around that line as much as possible, exploring what shouldn't work and why, but making an effort to try it anyway. When the universal laws of physics come into play, that's when reality can truly become distorted. The Balancing Barn of Suffolk, England Imagine walking through the fields of Ye Olde England whistling some bagpipe music (because you know full well that the bagpipes are Scottish) and coming upon this Airstream-style trailer. From one end, everything looks reasonable and fine. From the other, it seems the landlord has found a creative way to evict the acrophobics who live there. Actually, this fancy piece of architecture is a place you can stay at for a few quid over the weekend. No, it isn't as amazing as Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, but the mind bending here would be fun to experience.

Surprisingly enough, this isn't the only balancing barn I found on the internet. Sure, there were a few after Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont last year, but they didn't balance for very long. This next one comes from deep within the former USSR. This former granary is even MORE impressive. Look at that HUGE concrete footing at the end. It hangs over the plains, waiting for Noah's next flood or keeping the residents above the waves of zombies rising from their graves in Chernobyl. Alas, it isn't real. OK, yes, its real, but the granary doesn't defy the laws of physics. As you can see in the photo on the right demonstrates, there are supports that were removed digitally to pull off this trick. Even the photo on the right is doctored; during construction, it was Vladimir Putin who, in another amazing feat of strength and machismo, held up the barn for 142 days straight. Amazing.

A bit closer to home, our final props goes to a work which, in comparison has absolutely nothing to do with defying the laws of tradition or physics. Instead, this piece is a comforting sanctuary created by Ben Shadis. "The Nest" is exactly that, constructed slightly above the bed of a cool brook in central Vermont. It defies the conventional patio setting of wrought iron furniture and stone pavers for the comfort of cattails and cushions, blending into the landscape from which he built it.